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Tag Archives: Obesity

People come in all shapes and sizes. Some are tall, some are short. Some are large and some are thin. Age also contributes to the softening of lean tissue. Then there’s dietary fat that can be good or bad for you.

The United States Department of Agriculture recommends that healthy adults over the age of 19 consume between 20 and 35 percent of their daily calories from dietary fat. This means if you eat a diet of 2,000 calories per day, you should consume between 44 grams and 77 grams of total fat daily. Almost all dietary fat in your diet comes in the form of triglycerides. Most of this fat is necessary for metabolizing energy. Some key nutrients require fat for body absorption. A small amount of fat is an essential part of a healthy diet. Excess fat is stored in the body’s cells until it is needed for energy. Fat helps to form ATP as a core component to deliver energy. ATP uses fat, sugars, starches to tabulate energy consumed and used. Dietary fat is necessary – perhaps more than sugars. Is there a best dietary fat?

Unsaturated fats include polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fats. Both mono- and polyunsaturated fats, when eaten in moderation and used to replace saturated or trans fats, might help lower cholesterol levels and may reduce your risk of heart disease, when replacing use of saturated or trans fats in food preparation. Keys here are moderate and replacement.

The discussion among the use of better dietary fat offers some complexity about how fat is structured and how those structures interact with your body. Fats are chains of acids. Some are essential, with either short, medium, or long tails that create a fat molecule. Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that humans and other animals must ingest because the body requires them for good health but cannot synthesize them. Non-essential fatty acids are those we can produce and are usually added dietary fat for flavor enhancement.

There are differences among saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Fatty acids that possess no double bonds are saturated (have maximum number of H atoms). Saturated fatty acids are linear in structure, originate from animal sources (i.e. fats) and are typically solid at room temperatures

Avocados. One medium avocado has approximately 23 grams of fat, but it is primarily monounsaturated fat.
Walnuts plus other nuts, like almonds and pistachios, and nut and seed butters.
Olives and Olive oil. …
Ground flaxseed
Salmon and other fish oils

Transduction is the process of how your body isolates dietary fat components to feed cells, hormones, and other body parts and functions. Excess or non-essential) fats are stored microscopically in many areas. Chronic excesses start to show in arteries organs, and skin tissues. Either resourced from unsaturated, saturated, essential, or non-essential, many of these excesses are deposited as fat storage. This is how the body transduces (converts) fats. Display of fatty skin deposits usually result from long and accumulating deposits of dietary fat.

So how is fat stored? It’s complicated. Fat cells are actually molecules containing chains of acids. Some are essential fatty acids (EFA) providing nutrients for cell and body function. Other fatty acids are catalysts that aid in controlling balance, elimination, and storage. The fatty acids are bonded together by a glue made of starches. These are called triglycerides and are essential to make and keep fat molecules fatty. It’s a symbiosis for keeping your body comfortably fat. Yet, too much storage leads to obesity and diseases like diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Surprisingly, dietary fat uses a starch-based relative of the carbohydrate family. It’s called glycerol. All oils and fat contain glycerol. Glycerol is a polyhydric alcohol, or a sugar alcohol, a polysaccharide. Glucose is the basic unit, of which polysaccharides like starch and cellulose are composed. Glycerol is an essential component of oils and fats, which are called esters or triglycerides. On one end of the chain there is a carboxyl-group, or a carbon double bonded to an oxygen and single bonded to an oxygen and hydrogen. Double bonds are depicted by using two lines. A fat is formed when a glycerol joins with three fatty acids. Fats are also called triglycerides. On one end of the chain there is a carboxyl-group, or a carbon double bonded to an oxygen and single bonded to an oxygen and hydrogen. Fatty acids are long, straight chain carboxylic acids. A fat (or oil) is formed when three fatty acid molecules react with a glycerol molecule to yield a triglyceride. Double bonds are depicted by using two lines, which you can see in the image below. A fat is formed when a glycerol joins with three fatty acids. Fats are also called triglycerides. These fat molecules bond to tissues of the body.

Two of the fatty acids are considered essential. These essential fatty acids (EFAs) are known as linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3). One system of fatty acid classification is based on the number of double bonds. Stearic acid is a typical long chain saturated fatty acid. Oleic acid is a typical monounsaturated fatty acid. Linoleic acid is a typical polyunsaturated fatty acid.

Groups of fatty acids bond with a fat molecule and these are called short-chain (SCFA), medium-chain (MFA or MCT), long-chain (LFA), and (sometimes) very long chains. Understanding fats through fatty acids helps you appreciate how fats are essential and basic to cell and body functions. Fats are lipids. Lipids include fats, fatty acids, sterols, phospholipids, glycolipids, waxes, and other substances. They are essential components of every cell membrane.

Short-chain fatty acids are fatty acids with fewer than 6 carbon (C) atoms. They are produced when the friendly gut bacteria ferment fiber in your colon, and are the main source of energy for the cells lining your colon. These 3 short-chain acids work at processing fiber for regularity when eliminating waste products.

Use of these foods provide surprising effects, especially coconut oil (caprylic acid) that are generally saturated fats. Aside from coconut oil, smaller amounts of MCTs can also be found in certain other foods with saturated fats including butter (especially butter from grass-fed cows), cheeses, palm oil, whole milk and full-fat yogurt. While this lies contrary to low-fat dieting there is some scientific support that responsible use of these MCT foods may help contribute to weight loss and higher energy via interactivity with certain proteins.

Long-chain fatty acids are those with 14 or more carbons. They’re found in most fats and oils, including olive oil,
canola oil, soybean oil, fish, nuts, avocado and meat.

Yet, even in these long fat chains conflicts remain about health benefits of Omega-3 and Omega-6 benefits. As social media guru Dr. Mercola indicates:

The science is loud and clear: the correct balance of fatty acids is essential if you want to be the healthiest you can be.

There are actually two problems related to how these fats are being consumed by most Westerners today:

The ideal ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats is 1:1, but the typical Western diet is between 1:20 and 1:50.
The typical Westerner is consuming far too many polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) altogether, which is a problem in and of itself.
So, most consume the wrong amount—AND the wrong ratio of these highly benefical fats.

Both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are PUFAs and they’re both essential to your health, but when omega-6 is consumed in excess, it become problematic.

As a group, when consumed in the wrong ratios, they tend to stimulate inflammatory processes in your body, rather than inhibit them.

You need some inflammation to protect yourself from infections and trauma, and PUFAs help you mount these defenses.

Omega-3 foods are typically fatty fish, such as salmon and sardines. A popular vegan source is flax, either seeds or oil. Despite the positives pf omega-3 dietary fat foods, fish are sources of cholesterol. For those monitoring cholesterol and triglyceride levels, professional holistic physicians should be sought.

(although some of these claims are not well supported by scientific evidence. For example, there are many probabilities for most things on his list). Generally, omega-6 foods are seen as potentially dangerous. Omega-6 dietary fat acids, however, as part of the long chain partner as constituents of many foods.

While there is a debate about the ratio of Omega-3 vs Omega-6 regarding health, both are essential fatty acid complexes. Omega-6 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds. When eaten in moderation and in place of the saturated fats found in meats and dairy products, omega-6 fatty acids can be good for your heart.

While focus tends to be omega-3 and omega-6 dietary fat acids, there are other omega fats. Unlike the 3’s and 6’s, Omega-9 fats are not “essential” fatty acids. That means that you don’t need to get them in your diet – if your body needs them, it can make its own. … Omega-9 fatty acids include: Oleic acid: a monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, macadamia oil, poultry fat, and lard. Poultry fat and lard are trans-fats, generally regarded as unhealthy. Some of the top foods to get omega-9 benefits include sunflower, hazelnut, safflower, macadamia nuts, soybean oil, olive oil, canola oil, almond butter and avocado oil.

Research has shown some evidence that omega-9 fatty acids can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Omega-9 benefits heart health because omega-9s have been shown in some tests to increase HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) and decrease LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).

While dietary fat may not be a sole determinant of body fat, consuming extra calories than using each day will add body fat deposits. When you consume more calories than your body needs, both carbs and fats end up stored in muscles and in other areas throughout the body. The body stores dietary fats in the form of triglycerides, whether in muscles or fat cells. Carbs are first turned into glycogen, which is stored in the liver and muscles. Ketogenic diets believe that, by removing carbs as an energy source, part of the body fat will be used via gluconeogenesis. It works as a lifestyle choice. The liver, kidneys, and brain can produce the glycogens it requires to function, in the absence of carbs. It also breaks down glycerols found in fat. Body fat, however has layers – particularly visceral and subcutaneous.

Body fat may not be a fashionable ideal but visceral fat is more hazardous. Much of the fat in the stomach area lies directly under the skin. This is called subcutaneous fat and is not necessarily hazardous to your health. The fat that is harmful is the unseen fat around your organs, otherwise known as visceral abdominal fats. These also show up in blood tests. The problems are before they become visceral body fat, visceral fat coats the liver, kidney, and other vital organs. In the bloodstream, they may be factors that clog arteries.

How to Lose Visceral Fat:
See a certified dietician.
Do blood tests.
Cut out all trans fats from your diet.
Don’t drink a lot of alcohol.
Do resistance training.
Do high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Improve your hormone profile.
Keep cortisol levels under control.
Maintain good sleep hygiene.
Take the right supplements as prescribed by dietician.

Visceral fat and its ties to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases has been called metabolic obesity in contrast with weight-based obesity. Visceral fat is a consequence of eating more fat than your body actually needs, from fat calories. Visceral fat may pose inner dangers. Subcutaneous fat indicates your clothing size. There are several methods of testing visceral fat – others more accurate than some. Speak to a health practitioner if you are concerned about visceral fat.

Reducing fat or lowering carbohydrate consumption will help reduce, at least subcutaneous fat as a lifestyle approach. Never do both! As a low-carb approach, you can eat fat and protein as energy sources. It doesn’t mean you can eat bacon, sausages, and pounds of meat daily. You still need to calibrate your fat consumption responsibly – getting all your required calories from diversified fat sources and protein. Tour body can compensate for the carb co-factors by producing them itself.

Fat, like carbohydrates, translates into energy. Provided you have no existing health issues, dietary fat kept at around 70 to 80 grams daily – with normal movement – may help manage your subcutaneous fat issues, if you have any. Excessive dietary fat loss is very complicated but fat is essential for energy production.

Eating healthy requires acquired taste obedience for many reasons as a lifestyle. While most food addicts follow undiscriminating diets, eating healthy means making choices that we hope will keep bodies and minds healthy and well. A healthy lifestyle offers no assurances of longevity. Eating healthy results rely mostly on faith through obedience in optimizing your living life by choice.

In Corinthians 6:19-20: Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Many forget that phrase, especially when it comes to eating healthy. A few remember that, as a body temple, how, what, and when you eat is bound to body and soul and even fewer practice eating healthy.

A recent recent study published in the Journal of the American Health Association Journal 3/7/2017, discusses observations of those eating healthier as a means of dieting. The article, Change in Percentages of Adults With Overweight or Obesity Trying to Lose Weight, 1988-2014 indicates that there is a percentage loss among these dieters when compared to studies in 1990. About 2 out of every 3 Americans are either overweight or obese, a decline of 7 percent means millions more people may have given up on dieting. The stumbling block is a motivational drop-off. Those who focus on eating healthy make a life-long commitment, for whatever the results.

Eating a healthy diet and what it means starts at younger ages. When integrated into a learning process when younger, eating healthy is normal. It is definitely a nurturing process.

Eating healthy requires acquired taste obedience as an alternate lifestyle. While there are many foods considered healthy, there are some with dietary restrictions due to illnesses. Among the lists of healthy foods, there are serving size considerations. Eating healthy requires focus and acquired taste as an alternate lifestyle sense of obedience. In most cases and situations, eating healthy in a world surrounded by snacks and sugary desserts, is a form of strict discipline. After all, eating healthy is not normal. There are so many attractive, delicious less healthy foods all over the place.

At the supermarket, the customer in front of me purchased 5 largebags of assorted chips, 2 boxes of crackers, 2 pounds M&M’s, potato salad, cole slaw, 10 liters of Coke and 2 packs of cookies. She also added about a dozen of those Ramen noodle soups in a cup. Thankfully, she added family packs chicken and steak. I noted to her that it looks like a great diet. She says, “That’s what my family wants. I make them happy.” While eating healthy requires discipline, eating unhealthy delivers quick gratifications of happiness. It’s a sharp contrast of rewards.

If you look at supermarket circulars, many listings promote normal lifestyles. Some support healthy lifestyles, where available. People choosing to eat healthy is a minority.

Eating healthy is akin to a religion. There are guides and scores of information. There are no spiritual leaders. The adage of “Seek and Ye Shall Find” requires lots of fervor. The rewards are fewer diseases, weight management, and going to heaven later than sooner. Most do not follow this faith. They’d rather die happy with lunches of 2 burger deluxe and 2 cans of coke. While eating healthy requires a tossed salad or sandwich on multi-grain bread, with spring water. Quite an alternative! Who is happier? Who is sicker?

How and what you eat influences your health and mental state. Eating unhealthfully may affect your body weight, blood pressure, your spine, your arteries, your heart, and brain. It may confuse hormones and the vital fluids that flow through them. There are no guarantees that your body won’t suffer by eating healthy, but eating healthy might skew the variables to your favor.

Statistics do seem to show that unhealthful eating and physical inactivity may result in disabilities as you age. An unhealthy diet may a leading cause of disability. Unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity are leading causes of loss of independence: Roughly 73,000 people have lower-limb amputations each year due to diabetic infections that may develop in obese people. Based on the Center for Science in the Public Interest over 600,000 deaths per year in the United States have been associated with unhealthy eating and inactivity.

According to studies at EPIC-Oxford, vegetarians had lower rates of mortality from pancreatic cancer and lymphatic cancer. Semi-vegetarians had lower rates of death from pancreatic cancer. Pesco-vegetarians had lower death rates from all cancers but higher rates of cardiovascular diseases.

Although dietary supplements of vitamins and antioxidants are helpful, eating a balanced diet is vital for good health and wellbeing. Food provides our bodies with the energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals to live, grow and function properly, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Eating healthy may help allow longer, active lives because people followed a healthy lifestyle AND avoided unhealthy eating and inactivity.

For the long term, gaining weight to obesity and the potential for numerous nutritional diseases, many tend not to follow health maintenance and rehabilitation over the long term. While much is written about eating healthy foods, there are no real specific formulas (many contradict) what a healthy eating diet implies.

Thus, the popular umbrella over eating healthy does require more science research and evidence of what eating healthy means, along with benefits and consequences.

There are some who have genetic and/or developmental problems with foods that are deemed part of what eating healthy accepts.

Sometimes the rules for eating healthy don’t apply. For example, nuts are considered healthy. Tree nut or seed allergies, for some people, may be extremely harmful allergens. Tree nuts can cause a severe, potentially fatal, allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). Tree nuts include, but are not limited to, walnut, almond, hazelnut, cashew, pistachio, and Brazil nuts. Seeds include sunflower or sesame. Most packages notify if a food product was manufactured in a factory that is exposed to nuts or seeds. Having a soy allergy might knock out even more products.

While meat, poultry and fish are (by small servings) traditionally great sources of complex proteins, many people watch their blood cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels.

Then, of course, there are those that are gluten-free – no wheat products. Diabetics have to watch carbohydrate intake – basically all foods that grow from the earth. As you see, for many, eating healthy faces some very difficult obstacles. No way fits all. Eating healthy diets might also be dangerous to your health!

Eating healthy and setting activities may have something to do with appearance or fashionable vanity – Body Image. People are seeking more than health – attraction, romance, perceived fashionability, social – and eating healthy or obsessively healthy can lead to eating disorders that are also harmful for health. Eating healthy for health and wellness might be individually specific. As a consumer cyclical, more money, more marketing, high motivation is spent on getting the body image you seek. Eating healthy as a lifestyle may be targeted at more than personal health. The aim may be more social. Those that eat healthy may also pursue many activities and seek to make their bodies as attractive as possible.

Bariatric surgery is often advertised on TV. It clips an area of your stomach to inhibit food intake. The use of bariatric surgery is suggested for those people who weigh 100 pounds or more than their average weight and have related health issues. When asked why they were pursuing bariatric surgery, the answers were generally, “tried everything else to improve my body image.” Health was often secondary as they received medicine for that.

Despite side effect possibilities from bariatric surgery, and possible dangers with any surgery, it is a very popular route to improved body image. The number of bariatric surgeries increased to 179,000 in 2013 with 34.2% of surgeries as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, 14% gastric banding, 42.1% gastric sleeve, 1% as duodenal switch, 6% as revisional surgery and 2.7% classified as other (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery).

As one of my early internships, I sat in with groups who had the surgery and I observed, over a course of of 6 months, that several regained their weight and complained about vomiting when they ate too much. Most in the groups had depressive states due to no visible improvements in body image and social successes.

For all of those people with sensitivities and diseases, eating healthy might be extremely challenging. Among the reasonably healthy population, finding ways of healthy nutrition is easier. It still requires motivation and fortitude. It may require acquired tastes and compromises but easily adaptable via a continuous lifestyle.

Sadly, many people compromise their options and sensitivities. For quite a few people, eating healthy is filled with unique challenges. Then again, for numerous reasons, noy eating healthy may contribute yo developing diabetes 2.

Eating healthy is about eating the right foods, at the right times, with suggested servings. A serving is usually a few ounces. That may mean that a big salad or large steak each day might be more toxic.

Choosing a healthier diet of foods for weight management or some irregular blood score may be helpful. See if your physician can refer you to a qualified nutritionist. For those that eat healthy as a lifestyle, regardless of age, your discriminating dietary obedience MAY pay off with more robust spirit with generally good feeling and body image.

A growing number of people regard the biblical concept of the body as a temple (whether observant or not). Eating healthy is a discipline and habit that you observe through your life span.

Scientifically, eating healthy doesn’t necessarily guaranty that your overall life, wellness, and body image will be excellent. There is a faith and motivation quotient that following a wellness lifestyle will be better than not following one. It is alternative thinking that makes sense to you. As any lifestyle, eating healthy requires motivation, rules, obedience and pleasure.

Eating healthy isn’t a matter of deprivation. If you are celebrating and see attractive food, sample it. Just don’t eat the entire portion. You deserve it. Just don’t exceed serving sizes.

Many might agree or disagree. Eating healthy is an individual choice. For many, healthy food is an acquired taste compared to average eaters. No temple is the same as another. Vive la différence! Choose which healthy mode you want to obey.

Your body may be leased from God but your body health is part of you and your personal responsibility. Seek and find your paths to eating healthy. Any thoughtful healthy actions you contribute may help you live a little bit better.

Pediatric research conducted under the auspices of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) made new findings about child development problems when both parents are obese. Research was conducted by scientists at the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Do obese parents weight hinder child development?

Obesity is defined as beyond overweight, considered unhealthful weight and size. According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), obesity is measured by weight ranges and the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale. Based on BMI, more than one-third (35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese. More than 1 in 20 (6.3 percent) have extreme obesity. According to NIH results, investigators found that children of obese mothers were more likely to fail tests of fine motor skill — the ability to control movement of small muscles, such as those in the fingers and hands. Children of obese fathers were more likely to fail measures of social competence, and those born to extremely obese couples also were more likely to fail tests of problem solving ability.

Approximately 5000 mothers participated the upstate New York study (2008-2010). The study recruited mothers from New York State (excluding New York City) at ∼4 months postpartum. Parents completed the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) when their children were 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age corrected for gestation. The ASQ used included questions to screen for delays in 5 developmental domains (ie, fine motor, gross motor, communication, personal-social functioning, and problem-solving ability).

The findings of this study suggest that maternal and paternal obesity are each associated with specific delays in early childhood development, emphasizing the importance of family information when screening child development.

One of the problems of interpreting data from ASQ’s, especially from a previous study, is an academic exercise. While findings appear in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the correlation of obese parents and ASQ reported developmental issues of children aged up to 3 years, might be somewhat questionable. The original Upstate Kids study was studying how infertility treatments, such as ovulation-stimulating medications and various assisted reproductive technologies.

The study did not focus on socioeconomic factors among the sampled group. as New York State has many depressed areas. Within the study results, indications displayed maternal obesity was associated with lower socioeconomic status and higher paternal BMI. It was also related to greater likelihood of smoking, being diagnosed with gestational diabetes or hypertension, and lower likelihood of alcohol intake, multivitamin use, and fish oil supplementation during pregnancy.

This study was the first examination of maternal and paternal obesity in the USA, culled from regional ASQ data at about 6 years old. What we have here are several factors that may be inferred as to confounding variables. Is there actually a direct link between obese parents and childhood development? Can one easily infer that obesity was the only cause?

Smoking, diabetes, alcohol intake, poor medical guidance, and other variables of behavior may also result in childhood development disorders. As with many published studies that are reported by the media, this study leaves room for doubt of direct inference of causality.

The question of whether obese parents weight hinder child development needs more study. From this article published in Pediatrics Journal, there is little credence that parental obesity may result in child development problems. If your toddler does exhibit child development issues, have your pediatrician deeply study possible reasons.

Believe it or not, if you’re over 50 and are disconcerted with that tire growing around your waist, it is normal to age and get fat. There are things you can do.

There’s a crisis at getting fat as you age. Suddenly fat begins showing where it never appeared before. Sizes rise and appearance seems to enlarge in all the wrong places. The human body is made up of fat, lean tissue (muscles and organs), bones, and water. After age 30, people tend to lose lean tissue. Your muscles, liver, kidney, and other organs may lose some of their cells. This process of muscle loss is called atrophy. These changes result in changes in function and in appearance. It is normal to age and get fat but it’s very difficult or impossible to prevent. Diets may only help marginally. Atrophy has an enemy. It is activity. All those cell losses reduce your energy levels as your body gets fat.

The bulk of the population have a common disease where it is normal to age and get fat. It is called Sarcopenia and is a condition that is virtually impossible to cure. Sarcopenia affects millions of people who gradually become weak and frail as they age due to loss of muscle mass.

While not everyone has Sarcopenia, research does show that it is closely associated with the process that is normal to age and get fat. In Sarcopenia, it is the severity.

Starting and following through with an exercise program might help control the progression of fat and Sarcopenia but it won’t cure it. Sarcopenia develops rapidly with a lack of physical activity, especially the lack of overload to the muscle, as in resistance exercise. The amount of physical activity generally declines with age. Physically inactive adults will see a faster and greater loss of muscle mass than physically active adults. The problem is that the loss of muscle mass reduces the metabolic production of energy. The results include developed intolerance of exercise that is all too real. It is not fear. It is a form of myopathy.

In most myopathies, weakness occurs primarily in the muscles of the shoulders, upper arms, thighs, and pelvis (proximal muscles). The symptoms are capped by general fatigue because muscles and energy production efficiency are closely associated. Other symptoms may include aching, cramping, stiffness, tenderness, tightness, and pain.

Sarcopenia and myopathies ARE NOT always present as people get fat with age. It is normal to age and get fat and Sarcopenia or myopathy may be fundamentally associated with symptoms. That is why exercise is extremely important over age 30 for those who not have chronic diseases. such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and myasthenia gravis, among others.

There are other subtle conditions associated with weight gain. These include an underactive thyroid gland (which can also cause weight gain despite eating less, intolerance to cold, constipation and dry skin) and diabetes (other symptoms include needing to pass water more often, feeling thirsty and recurrent minor infections like boils and thrush). Several medications can also lead to tiredness – beta-blocker tablets for heart conditions and antidepressant tablets are top of the average doctor’s list. Stress often leads to tiredness, but so too can symptoms of depression. Believe it or not, among aging individuals, weight gain is a cause for depression. Depressing generally reduces activity.

In the case of coping with the symptoms of normal muscle loss, changing habits from inactive to active is extremely difficult. For most, walking can help a lot. As you get older, your metabolic rate – the rate at which your body burns energy – will probably slow. Adjust your meal size and make a resolution to do a brisk daily walk of 20-30 minutes – just a 10% loss in weight will reduce the fat inside your tummy up to 30%! That means, if you are 200 pounds, you will lose about 30% of belly fat if you reach 180. If you’re 150, you may lose 30% belly fat when you reach 135 pounds. Doing so, however, requires a persistent, gradual habits that may be contrary to your known lifestyle.

Once you get over the “work effort” associated with exercise, you will find that you feel better because the body releases endorphins that help pick you up. For most normal people, exercise makes you feel better, perform physical tasks better and reduce the risk of disability due to arthritis. It now appears that exercise – specifically, resistance training – actually rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens. Resistance training doesn’t necessarily mean joining a gym and hoisting weights. There are rubber stretch bands. They are normally called Therabands and are used by many physical therapists. Like walking, these exercises must be approached in graduated steps.

As you evolve, Yoga and Seniors is a gaining partnership for overall conditioning and stretching. There are many community centers that offer free classes. It is recommended that you work towards 3 classes per week.

Of course, the process that is normal to age and get fat leaves muscles tense, stiff, and painful. Senior citizens should seek out massage therapy from a certified therapist or acupuncture. None near you? Try to find a nearby school that teaches massage and acupuncture.

According to WebMD, People who are physically inactive can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass per decade after age 30. Even if you are active, you will still experience some muscle loss. If you are 60, you may have lost about 15% of lean muscle because it is normal to age and get fat. The lean muscle you lost helped make you look trim because muscle fibers kept your fat from showing.

If you are aging and reminisce about times when you were thin and strong, remember how normal it is to age and get fat. Lifestyle changes help but it’s all in the routine. That’s the most difficult thing. The hardest part is starting. After a few repetitions, it does get easier and your body will be trimmer. Just give it time. It took years to grow.

Some people call it excessively fat. Others call it overweight. Doctors may call it obese. For politicians and statisticians, obesity is a broad problem, though perhaps, too broad. In the past 40 years, weight-loss surgeries have greatly expanded as a medical specialization to help reduce obesity. They are costly interventions and very profitable. It is surprising that research has been published demonstrating that Obesity Surgery improves brain functioning. Some of the researchers were bariatric surgeons. In a culture where obesity and diseases are threatening longevity, is surgery a viable quick-fix solution?

Is being overweight a result of age, genetics, or lifestyle? Studies show some life-threatening diseases are associated with being overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control, a USA government agency, degrees of being overweight and obesity is more pervasive. Obesity is definitely not merely age related. Invasive surgical techniques (bariatric) are being advertised as treatments. Insurances cover procedures for certain obese levels. Obesity has been linked as possible causes for many diseases. On August 26 2014, a new study examining bariatric surgery was published inferring that obesity Surgery improves brain functioning. It may reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer Disease symptoms. Many of the diseases, purportedly tied to weight and obesity, may be sourced from other origins.

Obesity has been associated to diabetes and circulatory diseases. A new endocrinology study shows Changes in Neuropsychological Tests and Brain Metabolism After Bariatric Surgery may reduce brain circulation problems that associate with heart, organ, and brain conditions, including Alzheimer Disease symptoms.

There may be over 78 million people classified as obese or very overweight in the USA, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s near one-third of the country’s population.

The most common way to find out whether you’re overweight or obese is to figure out your body mass index (BMI). BMI is an estimate of body fat, and it’s a good gauge of your risk for diseases that occur with more body fat. Few physicians rely on BMI but use weight on scales to diagnose obesity and the BMI debate seems to question the diagnosis. BMI may not be accurate as a reliable diagnostic tool.

One mode of measurement has been gaining popularity to determine obesity is waist circumference measurements. Men with a waist circumference of more than 40 inches and women with a circumference of more than 35 inches are at a higher risk for developing obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

I often comment about how many men use pants with sizes less than 40″ beneath their belly, that might actually be substantially over 40 inches. The maximum waist size of most standard pants sold is up to 42 inches. Beyond that, men must buy “big-size” pants from a specialty source. Women must resort to Plus-size clothing for sizes beyond extra-large parameters. Many squeeze into standard sizes resulting in pain and (possibly) organic problems.

Measuring obesity in women may also require waist and hip sizes but, often, Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) may be a poor obesity marker. Unlike waist circumference, WHR is not necessarily a measure of absolute abdominal fat mass. It is, however, a measure of abdominal fat relative to lower body mass. As such, a relatively lean individual could theoretically have the same WHR as an obese individual.

Two imaging techniques are now considered to be the most accurate methods for measuring tissue, organ, and whole-body fat mass as well as lean muscle mass and bone mass. These help indicate how obesity is affecting your body. While obesity is impacting radiology departments throughout the country, many overweight peopl3e do not fit into these machines.

Yet statisticians set the standards for obesity and how many people are actually very fat. When it comes to overweight, the numbers are staggering high.

Exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes are being weighed to discuss obesity control. A surgical procedure called Bariatric Surgery is becoming more popular for those people who are very obese. It is an invasive surgery geared for people who have tried other ways of losing weight and size to help move out of the clinical obesity ranges. Few studies have examined long-term efficiency of surgical methods and obesity. Yet, the large initial weight loss is associated with reducing risks on related diseases. The researchers of the recent obesity study and brain association are affiliated with a bariatric surgery group. More people are electing bariatric surgery as a means of weight control and image improvement. Does it work?

Weight loss surgery is not even close to the solution for obesity. Whether it is liposuction that vacuums the fat from certain areas, or bariatric surgery that reduces the capacity to eat, neither guarantees permanent weight loss. Many regain any weight lost and several still are threatened with diabetes and circulatory diseases. Obesity, however, is not always linked to high blood levels of cholesterol that may contribute to plaque in arteries and veins that might cause heart and brain diseases. As for incidence of neurocognitive conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease, there’s very little conclusive evidence that directly relate obesity to the incidence of memory disorders. Basically, weight loss surgery is a tool but not a clear solution to solving obesity.

Bariatric surgery can help a 300 pound person become 200 pounds. Prospective patients should not anticipate moving from a size 26 to a size 8 for social and psychological reasons. Those that do, are far from average. They are highly motivated at maintaining long-term lifestyle changes post-surgically. Most do not experience radical differences in appearance. It may be those changes that help improve certain fat-related conditions. Bariatric surgery may help by reducing food storage capacity. Sticking to strict diets will help prevent and reduce problems like vomiting and nausea by exceeding capacity.

Typically, Bariatric Surgery costs are around $20,000 to $30,000. This may not include hospital and anesthesia fees. Many health insurance companies will pay some costs if obesity is directly linked to heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a few others. In a world where loss of memory is a great fear, it is obvious that bariatric surgeons research and conclude that results may dramatically reduce incidence of memory loss. That, too, may be insurable.

Numerous conditions, diseases, and ailments may lead to weight gain and, possibly, obesity. Aging means loss of lean muscle and gain of fat, as a natural progression. Some say longevity may be related to fat among older people. Also, hypothyroidism, Cushing Syndrome, and mood disorders may be medical reasons for obesity. Common arthritis and fibromyalgia may result in obesity due to experiential pain with movement. Any disorder affecting mobility may add pounds.

Statistics also don’t take consideration of varieties of height, bone sizes, and muscular width as possible reasons that define obesity. A man at 77 inches tall may naturally have a 40″ waist and not be obese. Standards for men show 40″ waist as borderline obese.

Barring disease, natural size variations, and statistical errors, lifestyles following conscient9ious diets and active lifestyles may, over years, help people stay trimmer.

Sitting in offices or working on computers for extended lengths may increase weight and hip sizes. The condition is Sitting Disease and it may contribute to larger hip sizes throughout years of seated work. This may contribute to an obese appearance. The cure is more standing, walking, and stretching throughout the day.

A common misconception among those people in normally acceptable weight ranges is that weight gain is quick. It isn’t. It’s a gradual process where aging, genetics, and lifestyles form a complex network. Other than laundry shrinkage, your clothes are getting tighter because muscles are becoming less lean with age. It is referred as Sarcopenia but is relatively normal and effects vary among individuals. According to an article in WebMD:

People who are physically inactive can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass per decade after age 30. Even if you are active, you will still experience some muscle loss.

The causes of Sarcopenia process are varied and some research points to calibrations in homeostasis that are normal in the aging body. More research is targeting this area. Yet small studies among seniors demonstrate that lean muscle may be gained with routine daily activity.

Weight gain is a normal aging process and vigilant activity may slow it down. No activity over decades beyond age 30 could lead to obesity and all those partner symptoms that reduce longevity. Ironically, at some ages, weight loss at older ages can contribute to higher mortality rates.

Obesity has existed throughout history. In art, many images from centuries ago depict fatter people. There are few remnants to predict or trace their longevity. Fat is normal. Obesity was common.

Of all the wisdom and variances, moderate diet and moderate activity (walking at brisk pace 30 minutes per day) is likely to stave off obesity among people over 45. Whether it improves brain function or longevity is in need of further examination.

For the majority of the population, more sedentary times and availability/marketing of snack foods help accelerate the fat accumulation associated with Sarcopenia and poor habits. Fighting obesity within a normal population is a painfully slow process. There are no quick-fix solutions. Bariatric surgeries and plastic surgeries are valuable but only tools. Reversing the habits we’ve acquired in the modern and digital ages is as difficult and impossible as smokers and alcoholics succeed in fighting their addictions. Successes are very small.

Barring medical reasons, the growth rates associated with obesity is the end-product of 70 years of snacking and technology that are integral parts of living. Learning to add exercise and food management routines early in life may likely curb obesity levels. Whether one can follow through these skills and habits throughout life’s stresses, adversities, and progressions is a big question mark. We may never look like fashion models. Obesity rates are natural and (theoretically) can be controlled easily. For most, however, starting and following-through may be a Herculean task in a society that stresses snacks and seated activities as a comforting lifestyle.

It takes very little effort each day to battle obesity and possibly suppress any life-threatening conditions that obesity may be linked with. There is no quick fix. Barring genetics, there is no turning back the clock of age. As a long term goal, balancing obesity and health is a habit to target at ages when most don’t think about it.

Gaining weight is as natural as gravity. Gravity is a constant. As we seek to conquer gravity, the perpetual efforts to battle the influences of obesity and weight gain are within the grasp of most people at any age. In this case, memory and remembering are important factors. Weight loss surgeries don’t necessarily help in the long run.

Is society still about books and book covers? You couldn’t tell if you looked at June Squibb, the 84 year old star from the Nebraska movie, and noticed her fashionable, radiant appearance at the Oscar Awards red carpet. Though the octogenarian appears like a great-grandmother, she mentioned that she had played a stripper in the Broadway cast of Gypsy in 1960. Who would have guessed? It’s alarming how age helps change the human form. Accepting fashion to your form is normal but many get anxious and frustrated as they shift from vital, young fashions to somewhat matronly designs. Isn’t it hard being true to your fashion?

Fashion is image and fashion and form are related. Aging often changes a woman’s idea of being fashionable as skin softens and the nature of naturally gaining fat and losing lean muscle creeps up. Buddha once wrote, “Without health life is not life. It is only a state of languor and suffering – an image of death.” In a society where obesity is on the rise, remaining fashionably youthful as you age means maintaining health and activity. As you find yourself moving up from small to medium to large and extra large, your self-image declines. Is it because of age? Is it because of lifestyle? Are you true to your fashion?

Most fashion models display clothing in true, artistic form but most of these models retire before age 30, and only few retain their amazing figures. This puts normal people to shame. Does that mean that “normal” means losing a fashionable image?

Fashion is designed for normal people but people’s norms vary to the extent they want to remain fashionable. On Red-Carpet displays, fashion is demonstrated in all shapes and sizes. It’s a rational definition. Most women develop anxieties as they see their sizes rise and their forms distort what they had once believed to be attractive. As women leap through menopause, any irrational anxiety is amplified many times. Does age mean you need to be fat?

Preventing the eventual image of dying and death is a difficult one. Waiting to pursue an active lifestyle at age 60 is like taking on climbing the highest mountain. Is it possible? It is. Only 1 in 10,000 manage to follow through.

Fitness and diet as a lifestyle often runs contrary to your ethnic foods and media advertising. Fitness needs to be integrated at young ages and diet needs to be learned over a lifetime. Will life be healthy or not? Barring genetic and other chronic diseases, most people could maintain fashionability by doing low-impact exercise each day.

Walking is a perfect exercise and walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes daily is an excellent routine to be true to your fashion. Many women tend to be goal oriented when walking. There must be a destination. Only a small portion of people enjoy walking for pleasure. A constant walk on a firm surface can burn upwards from 100 calories per hour, based on a 150-pound person. Carrying and walking with 15 pounds of groceries can burn about 40 calories in 15 minutes.

Walking has been shown to have cardiovascular benefits. According to an article in New England Journal of Medicine, constant walking aids in reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases. According to a Harvard study, among 72,488 female nurses, walking at least three hours a week was linked to a 35% lower risk of heart attack and cardiac death and a 34% lower risk of stroke. Chronic sitting will add to weight gain and cardiovascular risks.

Walking alone requires more effort for weight loss and being true to your fashion goals. Basically, walking to expend 500 calories per day (while following a low fat diet) each day may help you lose one pound per week. In essence, walking gets you moving and more movement brings increased weight loss.

The fashion industry isn’t blind and more stores, like Forever 21 for example provide affordable and stylish clothes for those who wear “plus sizes”. If this is true to your fashion decisions, this is fashionably satisfying.

If you are plagued by anxieties regarding weight, form, and image, targeting to get back to your optimal weight may seem a herculean task. Using a combination of hormone replacement therapy (that may indirectly help get you moving) and exercising/walking 300 to 500 calories per day may just help you meet your true to your fashion desires. Can you do it?

Sometimes body size is a product of genetics or may be associated with certain diseases, many yet to be discovered. Surgical procedures may help reshape your body but, often, for only short terms. These people may find fashionability as well. Not everyone can be a size 4 or 6. Being true to your fashion is understanding your reality and expression.

Fashion is associated with art, science, fantasy, self-esteem, and a sense of empowerment. Feeling fashionable may be your positive. It is frustrating when you look at your appearance change over decades. Where did your style go? Staying and being true to your fashion and style is an activity that may elevate your mood in many ways. To get back to size 6 takes lots of effort when you haven’t done any for over 10 years. Sometimes you may need to adjust to your new body or work double hard to get one you like better. Are you true to your fashion?

Trying to manage your weight? You may be addicted to carbohydrates diet and don’t know it. What’s worse is that you may not be able to do something about it without a drastic change in your diet.

People are constantly trying diets. Diets often need to be imposed into a general lifestyle to work. All those ads that claim people lost 30 pounds in two months usually don’t show what happened after six months. People are addicted to carbohydrates and now there is some evidence that proves it.
One of the hard lines in pursuing a dietary lifestyle is the realization that you need to cut carbohydrates from your food intake. Carbohydrates are found in sugars, starches, and grains. Bread, cereal, fruits, and vegetables contain carbohydrates. Milk and yogurt also have naturally occurring carbohydrates.

The Atkins diet is a good way to do short dieting. It eliminates virtually all carbs but you can eat all the fat and protein you like. Barring any cardiovascular issues, the Atkins diet proposed that if carbs are omitted from the diet completely, the body uses energy from fat and protein only. Weight loss is quick and swift. The problem is how long can you keep off carbs in today’s carb oriented society?

South Beach Diet went a little deeper and isolated carbs into groups of simplex and complex. Processed foods use many simplex carbs. You’ll find it in processed foods such as breads, cakes, cereals, white rice, and pasta.

Consuming highly processed carbohydrates can cause excess hunger and stimulate brain regions involved in reward and cravings, according to a Boston Children’s Hospital research team. These findings suggest that limiting these “high-glycemic index” foods could help obese individuals avoid overeating. The study was small but cited some evidence that our body’s systems of homeostasis work in many ways to keep us addicted to simplex carbohydrate foods.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on June 26, 2013, investigates how food intake is regulated by dopamine-containing pleasure centers of the brain.

To examine the link, researchers measured blood glucose levels and hunger, while also using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe brain activity during the crucial four-hour period after a meal, which influences eating behavior at the next meal. Evaluating patients in this time frame is one novel aspect of this study, whereas previous studies have evaluated patients with an MRI soon after eating.

Twelve overweight or obese men consumed test meals designed as milkshakes with the same calories, taste and sweetness. The two milkshakes were essentially the same; the only difference was that one contained rapidly digesting (high-glycemic index) carbohydrates and the other slowly digesting (low-glycemic index) carbohydrates. High glycemic is indicative of simplex carbs and those rush into your body at a high rate of speed. Low glycemic are complex and absorb at much slower speeds, offering more sustained energy.

After participants consumed the high-glycemic index milkshake, they experienced an initial surge in blood sugar levels, followed by sharp crash four hours later.

This decrease in blood glucose was associated with excessive hunger and intense activation of the nucleus accumbens, a critical brain region involved in addictive behaviors.

Prior studies of food addiction have compared patient reactions to drastically different types of foods, such as high-calorie cheesecake versus boiled vegetables.

Another novel aspect of this study is how a specific dietary factor that is distinct from calories or sweetness could alter brain function and promote overeating.

These findings suggest that limiting high-glycemic index carbohydrates like white bread and potatoes could help obese individuals reduce cravings and control the urge to overeat.

Though the concept of food addiction remains provocative, the findings suggest that more interventional and observational studies be done. Additional research will hopefully inform clinicians about the subjective experience of food addiction, and how we can potentially treat these patients and regulate their weight.

The American Medical Association indicated that obesity should be treated as a disease. Studies like this one help validate that claim.

Is it nature or nurture? Most of the world has sustained themselves on carbohydrates and vegetable for thousands of years. For the most part, their lives were active. Today, we are mostly sedentary and are suffering from what we eat and our lack of movement. There may be genetic ties as to why some people are predisposed to being overweight.
With fast-foods dominating outdoor food consumption, it’s difficult to avoid high-glycemic foods. Succeeding in a weight management program may be a long, hard road that few will be able to tread.